"Ren" Faires

[Duchess]

Foxe's comment suddenly reminded me that I went to a Renaissance Festival in France, maybe ten years ago. It was much more organized than here in the US. All the action took place in one amphitheater and something like a gladiator arena. There wasn't much in the way of vendors except food. The whole thing had the feeling of a cross between one of those Knights Castles themed restuarants and a cabaret show. Most of the shows were pretty faire typical; jousting, bawdy skits, juggling, magician, some music, raptors etc. And the atypical climax of the evening shows? A laser light show on an artificial waterfall.

[blackjohn]

Blackjohn... sorry for any unintentional insult mate.

Thanks. None taken. Other than in an "in general" sense. My own personal feeling is that using Nazi in this way is not a good idea, considering what they actually did. It doesn't really compare to someone pointing out that your Fnarfstofler is ten years out of period.

What I meant by that term is somebody who goes out of their way to put down or ridicule those of us who aren't as accurate.  I apologize for using it in a broad and general sense.  I shall be more carefull in the future. 

Again, thanks. I believe each "side" has alot that can be learned from the other.

Now... what's a farb?

Are you serious??? Farb is the term re-enactors use to label people, the opposite of authenticity nazi.

And whenever this stuff comes up, I always think of the girl at work who said, "hey, that's kinda cool, it's like 'playing dress-up' for grown-ups." Puts it all into perspective.

Anyway... gotta run. Must get back to the kids!

[Diego Santana de la Vega]

I usually make light of most all of these threads and try to remain aloof and not too serious but I got involved reading all of the posts here as I see the power of the writen word and to what is be we all seek in the involvements at faire. Thanks to all of you for so eloquently putting out there a recognizable entity to which its own addressing was needed Grammercy I am going to cut and paste this from Red Jaime Flynt's thread:

Diego Santana de la Vega Posted: Nov 8 2005, 02:25 PM

QUOTE (Christine @ Nov 8 2005, 10:14 AM)

Okay, forgive me for this, but what are dragon tears? Are they little gems or something like that?

yar they be that and more Christine Iridescent little half marbles in colors to distinguish the luck of ones travels in the shire! Magical stones they be. From the Queens own jewels, fer ifin ye hold em in yer hand and ye make a tight clenched fist when ye bring em to yer heart ye can make a wish.... Tis the fastastic of the childrens involve lass.

Red Jayme Flint Posted: Nov 8 2005, 05:25 PM

i didnt know diego had such a soft spot for the lil' ones

Diego Santana de la Vega Posted: Nov 9 2005, 09:57 AM

QUOTE (Red Jayme Flint @ Nov 8 2005, 05:25 PM)

i didnt know diego had such a soft spot for the lil' ones

(in mrs Doubtfires voice)

you know lassie the wee thing about the faires entirty isn't whether the parents ergh going to have agood time ergh not.... It's whether the children say next year that they want to go back to the faire.... So we sexually harass the womens and we demoralize and thouroughly humiliate the men but fer the bobbits we entertain them with a wee bit o fantasy fer in the innocent minds eye of a bobbits then, fantasy is a real place they all relate to.

is it for money? kinda yes (on my part no not at all) but here in So cal the compitition for the buck is strong, the cost of a family at faire is close to that of D'neyland, Legoland, the zoo or Knotts and the children certainly dont have the rides to entertain them at the ren fiares so if every adult patron or employee, volunteer or paid, costumed patrons and all, all give that little extra involvement to the children (each and every one) the experience is remembered and the families they do return....

[Monterey Jack]

After 17 years of faires in Calif and OR. I've definitely seen me share of weird ideas of Renaissance. Klingons on Elizabethan garb look pretty darn cool, though; plus you get to play off them:

"My Lord, what is that curious thing upon thy head? Dids't thou fall face first into a cow pie?"

The oddest thing was Vincent from TVs Beauty and the Beast dining at Henry the Eighth's table at Fair Oaks faire back in 91. I got up there with a can of cat food a second too late, though......

[tishsparrow]

one thing i know now about renfairs, specially when my mom and grandmom are involved...

if it has irish, scottish, celtic, or highlander in the title, i will stear clear. i have seen enough kilts to last me a lifetime. my mom and grandmom, on the other hand...

suffice to say there are a LOT of pics they took that day...

[Pew]

I usually make light . . . and try to remain aloof and not too serious . . .

The hell you say Monsignor!!

Ye be as serious and demonstrative as I've e'er seen . .

(Oh wait I gots me blindfold on . . .) Ne'er mind . .

As far as participating in Renn Faires and obtaining "period" garb, one can be as serious or as aloof (as me mate put it), as one wants. Carrying a repeater Colt .45 is obviously out of the question, but how many "non-fairee's" (no pun intended) can tell the difference between the various powder weapons manufactured through the GAoP, or even post/ prior.

Take with it and run as ye see fit. (BTW, have fun also . . )

Now back to me barstool . . . .

[Sir Eric]

how many "non-fairee's" (no pun intended) can tell the difference between the various powder weapons manufactured through the GAoP, or even post/ prior.

More than you might think. The crowd attending Ren faires is more and more educated year by year. Thing is, those who know what the heck is going on are the ones most likely to call you out in the middle of your show, and therefore are the most dangerous of the lot.

That's why those of us who don't conform 100% to period garb and kit must be prepared for the inevitable... that one history buff looking for the slightest mistake in what we wear.

"That pistol wasn't invented until the 1820's!"

Kinda disrupts the whole show when yer supposed to be pre-1650 an all.

Just ignore the heckler? Ya can't do that mate... gives him the win. Ya gotta have a reply. I usually reply with something along the lines of ...

"SHADDUP!!"

Anyway... more in line with the whole title of the thread here... I once was chased for about 75 yards or so by a fella with a pink kilt... and I shudder to think what woulda happened had he'da caught me!!

[Monterey Jack]

The crowd attending Ren faires is more and more educated year by year. Thing is, those who know what the heck is going on are the ones most likely to call you out in the middle of your show, and therefore are the most dangerous of the lot.

That's why those of us who don't conform 100% to period garb and kit must be prepared for the inevitable... that one history buff looking for the slightest mistake in what we wear.

Kinda disrupts the whole show when yer supposed to be pre-1650 an all.

Just ignore the heckler? Ya can't do that mate... gives him the win. Ya gotta have a reply. I usually reply with something along the lines of ...

"SHADDUP!!"

When I began doing faires back in 87 it seemed the order of the day way teach, teach, teach. There were about 15 guilds doing various indy faires and they all had it down as far as near-accuracy. Somewhere about the mid 90s though the old teachers fell by the side and we ended up with guys in kilts, metallica shirts and katanas playing period mercs.

I agree that the hecklers are an issue, but sometimes ye can't deal with them and still work the show. It ruins it for the majority of the audience who don't care. We were part of a Scots Charge one year in Fresno and the Scots were aided by the Irish. Their leader had a pistol that may or may not have been out of date and one bystander called him on it. The leader (right in the middle of the official challenge to the English) actually broke character to debate the issue, pissing off his own peaople and the rest of the performers. In those cases I think its better to ignore the idiot than to become one.

[Fox]

Something that I have noticed in the last 7 or 8 years over here is the scary level of education that some members of the public have about what we do. Perhaps the reason we don't have Ren Faires over here is simply because the majority of the public in the UK (probably 70%) do care if we get it wrong, and do have a fairly shrewd idea about what is right and wrong (and I'm using the word "wrong" on an authenticity level, not on some kind of ethical level). I'm not suggesting that everyone knows how many buttons should be on an ASC waistcoat or exactly what year the snaphaunce lock was invented, but you stick a brown bess musket in a 17thC display and someone will mention it at least every 10 minutes.

There's been a massive increase in the number of historical documentaries made in a popular style over here for the TV, and of course, endless historical dramas like Sharpe and Hornblower (I'm sure there's mroe now than ever there was before), and more and mroe people are watching them. I think it's this increase in historical TV which is encouraging people to take mroe of an interest in their heritage, and for me at least, it's a bit of an insult to let that new-found interest go to waste by not doing my best.

On the other hand there are still people who just want to be entertained (I believe philistines is the correct term), and for them we do have medieval "knights" in their bike-boots and velvet cloaks... Alas, most pirate re-enactment over here is on a similar sort of level.

This wasn't going to be a tirade but unless I stop typing soon it's likely to become one.

[Rumba Rue]

As I have said before, the Britons know their history. I have no doubt that the faires here would be a laughing stock over there.

Well hey wait a minute, they are laughable here too!

[Diego Santana de la Vega]

I just want to throw in an observation. In all of Europe there is a very proud history of what lets just say 2,500 years. Here in the united states there are Europes cast off's, the dead beats, the religious persecuted minorities who flocked here for a new life. As a result establishing the beginnings of some sort of historical significance in less than what 200 years. (to quote Bill Murray in Stripes "hey we're 10 and 0"). But Americans weren't serious about history before they left Europe or they wouldn't have left Europe at all. We are all of the refuse and the criminal descendants of generations of losers all gathered and learning to write history as winners. We are lucky if we care at all about anything......and besides............................ we are Pyrates!

[Fox]

A mate of mine is Irish (that is; born in Ireland, not your wishy-washy watered down "my great great grandfather came from Kilkenny" American Irish), but he lived and worked in the States for about 20 years. He summed it up rather nicely to me when he said:

"The difference between an Englishman and an American is that an Englishman think 100 miles is a long way, but an American thinks 100 years is a long time."

[Jib]

The strangest thing I have ever seen at a Ren Faire (Minnesota) was a dude dressed in a pink rabbit/ bunny costume. 6.5 feet tall, cartoon rabbit. Period or Not Period, all I could think of was "What the Hell?" Not that I mind, I found it funny. Just that it must have been hard to pee and very hot. The head was completely enclosed.

Foxe's Irish mate has a great quote! Very true. But then again I've driven in the UK and when it takes 30 minutes to go 10 miles the distance factor can be understood.

My pirate grab is a blend of 1500's to 1720's. I have had people stop me and question my garb and ask what a pyrate was doing in this time period. I answer "Looking for a drink Laddie, now point me to the pub!"

[Sir Eric]

not your wishy-washy watered down "my great great grandfather came from Kilkenny"

Hey... no reason to bring Great great Pa into this conversation!!

Nah... just kidding. I'm German thru and thru. I don't think they have Ren faires in Germany. I could be wrong.

They do have an AWESOME repretory theatre that still uses 17th century stage machines... I'll try to remember and scan a few pics if anyone is interested.